The incident in Kolkata on December 7 was anotherkilling in the name of "honour" and there has beena surge in such attacks over the past severalmonths. Nilofar Bibi, 22, was only 14 years old when she lefthome in an arranged marriage. Alleging torturecarried out by her in-laws, Bibi returned to herparents on November 28, but vanished days later. Her brother, Mehtab Alam, 29, had discovered hissister was living with an old boyfriend, Firoz, anauto-rickshaw driver. Alam stormed into the homeand dragged Bibi onto the street in broad daylight. Passers-by looked on in horror as he cut off Bibi'shead while saying "she had sinned and had to bepunished". Alam left his sister's body in a pool of blood on theroad, and calmly walked to the police station, herhead in hand, to surrender himself. The siblings'family expressed support for Alam, saying they were proud he upheld their honour.

"Honour killings" are traditionally associated withdeveloping countries with significant Muslimpopulations, and India has been no exception. "Killing is killing. It is unconstitutional and illegal, it'san offence. There is no 'honour' in killing," NirmalaSamant Prabhavalkar, a member of India's NationalCommission for Women (NCW), told Al Jazeera.m.aljazeera.com/se/2012121614107670788